


Hero and Leander

by billspilledquill



Category: Naruto
Genre: Brought you by the insistence from Kishimoto that Team 7 is a love triangle, F/M, First Dates, Gen, M/M, Microfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:53:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25058770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/billspilledquill/pseuds/billspilledquill
Summary: In the end, they lived their lives in squares, battled in circles, and loved in triangles.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura/Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Kudos: 29





	Hero and Leander

_Thus the poets, after knowing much of love, after feeling that sublime exaltation which real passion can for the moment inspire, created the mysterious names which through the ages fly from lip to lip: Daphnis and Chloe, Hero and Leander, Pyramus and Thisbe._

— The Confessions of a Child of the Century  
  
  


“Alright,” Sakura said, rubbing her temples as she waved one hand lazily. “If you want a date, I am free tonight at six.”

Naruto laughed, already stalking away. “Next time, then— wait,” Naruto flickered his gaze toward her, his smile frozen in place. “Wait,” he said. “Wait, wait, wait. What?”

The headache wasn’t going away. “I said,” she insisted, “pick me up at six. Don’t make me wait.”

“You mean,” Naruto said, tripping as he leaned into her, his eyes the size of saucers. “You mean it? Like a date? An actual date?”

She sighed. “Don’t make me regret it.”

Naruto yelped and punched the air in triumph. His eyes bright and just a little sceptical.

*

“Why did you accept, then?” Ino asked, swirling one blonde strand on her finger. “He knows you don’t like him. He knows you still like Sasuke.”

Sakura stepped forward and settled her head on her shoulder. “I’m tired,” she said.

“Your team is a mess,” she said, not unkindly. “Everyone keeps falling in love with each other. It’s bound to create trouble.”

Sakura nuzzled her neck. Ino didn’t push; she didn’t move, her arms loosely encircling her waist. “You have done a lot lately,” she said. “So has everyone. What do you want? A badge of honour?”

Sakura breathed in the faint smell of woods. “I want to spar.”

Ino grabbed her by the shoulders and stood up. “You’re on,” she said, grinning as she walked away, her hair swinging as the wind picked up the pace. Ino didn’t look back; she knew she would follow.

*

“Welcome back, Sakura,” her mother said with a frown. “You’re late today. Naruto is waiting for you. I told him to come in. Take a shower; you are drenched in sweat, for goodness’ sake.”

“I was training,” she said, and hurried off to the bathroom.

They settled for Ichiraku, of course. Sakura briefly wondered if Naruto knew any other food stand in Konoha before deciding that she didn’t care. Naruto was at her front door with his usual outfit, talking as usual, taking the same ramen order as usual. He grinned and asked for her order.

“You’re paying,” she said.

Naruto whined. “I thought it’s half-half! I spent my allowance last week when I treated everyone barbeque. C’mon, Sakura-chan.”

Sakura served another pair of chopsticks. She had accidentally broken a pair. “Do you know how a date works, Naruto?” she asked, whispering her thanks when Teuchi-san set her bowl on the table. “You seem to know exactly how not to date.”

Naruto’s voice was muffled by the way he kept chewing on his noodles. “Kiss?” he said.

She looked at him. “Do you want to kiss me?”

Naruto spluttered, choking before wiping his mouth. “O-of course!”

“Then do it,” she said, grabbing the front of his cloth and pulled. Naruto weighted a hand between them.

“There’s people,” Naruto said quickly, and people were staring.

Sakura dragged him outside roughly. The corner was dark, and Naruto backed away from her slowly, shifting his weight.

“Sakura-chan,” Naruto said softly. “Calm down.”

“I am _calm_ ,” she said, her hands balling into fists.

Naruto shook his head, his eyes meeting hers; steady, he looked on. “Don’t cry, then,” he said.

Sakura covered her face. She wanted to crawl her eyes out; she wanted to spar with Ino again.

“It’s okay,” Naruto said gently. “I understand.”

“No,” she answered firmly, a sob snapping her word in half. “You don’t.”

“Look at me, Sakura-chan,” Naruto said, peeling her fingers away from her face. “Look at me.”

*

Sasuke had been looking at him. The world was broken in half and was mended again. Half a decade later they have stood on the same ground, Sakura a kunai tight in her hand. Sasuke was looking at him.

“Sasuke,” she had called, and still he had looked on. When she had followed his gaze, Naruto’s eyes were to the sky, and the clouds that shaped it.

*

Sakura looked at him. “What?” she croaked out, blinking away the tears. “You got your date. Are you happy now?”

Naruto grinned a little, scratching his cheek. “Yeah,” he said. “Let me take you home now.”

She opened her mouth, closed it promptly. They walked silently past, the streets diving into silence. A child ran between them, chasing after another.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

She couldn’t bear to look at him in the eye. They stopped at her front-door. Sakura stood on the stairs when he called her name. The light beside Naruto flickered on and off, and Sakura listened to the sound of her name overlap with another, the one of an old friend.

“Thank you for today, Sakura-chan,” Naruto said, smiling faintly, the half of his face shadowed by the twinkle of the old lantern; the moon. “When Sasuke comes back, we can eat ramen all together, yeah?”

The lantern was old, she supposed. It had flickered on and off before plunging them into darkness. Only the moonlight glowed faintly against the sky, where no clouds hid.

“Don’t get lost back home, stupid,” she said. Naruto waved a hand with a laugh. They went.

*

At night, Sakura had a dream about water and drowning. When she woke up, she had already forgotten about it.

Ino was waiting by the door. “Wanna spar?” she asked, her face fresh by the morning sun.

She clasped her shoulder, squeezing once before letting go. “You’re on,” Sakura said.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! ♥


End file.
